Desk Top

Desk top computers also known as microcomputers were first produced in the late 1970s and 1990s. They are different from recently developed portable computers like laptops or PDAs. Desktop computers are mostly used in schools, households and small or medium-sized businesses. They are used for performing tasks like organizing digital photos, video editing, internet access and office tasks. The four kinds of desk top computers are home computers or personal computers; internet servers, workstations and special communications computers. Almost all desk top computers have components that can be easily upgraded or replaced.

The various components in a desk top computer comprise fans, motherboard, hard disc drives, optical disc drives, processor, RAM, graphics card, sound card, speakers, modem, network cards and Power Supply Units (PSU), etc. The fans cool the desk top processor and the internals of the computer; the motherboard links all of the components, the hard disc drive stores information, and an optical disc drive reads all types of CDs and/or DVDs. Speakers deliver sound, processor computes and processes all the instructions or software, RAM stores data for a short-term, graphics card renders video output on to the monitor or screen, sound card produces sound output, modem accesses data from the internet via a telephone line. A network card enables the computer to be linked to a computer network or another stationery desktop or laptop. The computer Power Supply Unit (PSU) provides power to all the computer parts.